The Israel National Basketball Team took care of business in style this week as they disposed of Ukraine, not once but twice in order to secure their place at the 2025 EuroBasket tournament that gets underway at the end of August. Not only did they win the pair of games, which was no easy task despite what the final scores indicated, the two victories in this window of FIBA games means that the blue-and-white won’t have to worry about their final two qualifiers in February and can just use those as warmups for the real deal in the summer.

The situation couldn’t have turned out any better for Head Coach Ariel Beit Halachmi as he now doesn’t have to worry about beating either Portugal and/or Slovenia in a couple of months and can take a deep breath and begin putting together his squad for the European Championships that will come together in the summer to begin preparations. He’ll most probably have Israel’s lone NBA representative in Deni Avdija who is playing with the Portland Trailblazers as well as Tamir Blatt who was out of this window with an injury.

After having split their first two qualification games with a win at Portugal and a loss to Slovenia, Israel entered this window of games with a 1-1 record against a team that was already 0-2 and knew full well to reach the ultimate goal of the campaign two wins would do it. After polishing off Ukraine in the first of two, the blue-and-white had a tough first half in the second matchup as the visitors in this matchup in Riga took full control of the situation and played to their drumbeat.

Israel looked awful going into the lockerroom done 40-29, but if you look at the roster that Beit Halachmi had at his disposal top to bottom, he also knew he had the more talented players as well as the all important depth that would decide the game down the stretch. And that is exactly what happened.

Yam Madar, Khadeen Carrington, Tomer Ginat and youngster Ben Saraf took the bull by the horns and just went off over the final twenty minutes, outscoring Ukraine 59-35 with absolute ease to chalk up the victory and send Israel to one of the four locations where the group stages will be hosted. Beit Halachmi will only find out in March after the final window of qualifiers where his blue-and-white will be heading among the options of Latvia, Poland, Cyrus or Finland while the knockout rounds will take place in Riga.

“It was a great week,” the bench boss said. “Both in terms of basketball and in terms of the players who were on my team. We were together and played like a team and everyone, including everyone, contributed. In the first half, we were a little nervous and our hands were shaking, but I’m happy that in the second half we loosened up and proved that we have depth in the squad and that every player can contribute on a given day and I’m proud of this result.”

Proud he can definitely be as he was able to take somewhat of a broken squad that crashed out of the 2022 EuroBasket tournament in Prague by losing their last three games of the group stage after opening up with a pair of wins and was able to rejuvenate the side into a well oiled machine. One that also sees the entire group of players really getting along and playing for a common goal.

The MVP of the window of games Yam Madar spoke about that fact, “We worked hard, everyone tried to get to this window and there was just crazy energy. Everyone came and pushed one another, both those who played more and those who played less. It was great fun. I was only a part of this team, everyone did an amazing job.”

While Madar will be a lock for the championships as Beit Halachmi has given the guard carte blanche to be his undisputed floor general, another guard, one that will be selected in the first round of the upcoming NBA draft gave a final frame performance that was unquestionably one of the finest quarters by an 18-year old with the senior national team.

That guard was Ben Saraf.

Saraf, has shot up the draft boards, from being a relatively unknown by the draft gurus, to one of the most pleasant surprises that has been ranked as high as being a top-10 lottery pick since joining Ulm in Germany this season.

The fourth quarter saw Saraf just light it up, from both inside and outside the arc, showing off his passing skills, driving unabashedly to the hoop that must have left the NBA scouts drooling with what he was able to do to close out the win. The chances are most probably slim that Saraf will be able to play at the EuroBasket as the NBA club that will select him will probably want to prepare him for his first season in the world’s greatest league, but nothing is in stone just yet.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Saraf began. “We came into the two games with the goal to advance and we succeeded. I enjoy having the pressure and the tension and when I have to face that challenge I am able to take it to another level. But it’s not just me, it’s the entire team.

“In the first half we didn’t look great and we gave up too many easy baskets and we weren’t aggressive. Ariel told us to ratchet up the aggressiveness and that really looked better in the second half. As for my availability in the summer for the national team, I hope that I can play but I’m not even thinking about it yet.”

All in all, Beit Halachmi has not singled out one play or another and will only talk about the players as a team. The squad will win as a team and lose as a team and that is how he wants to shape his time as the head coach of the Israel National Team.

“At the end of the day, we’re a team with talent and when we play together, we win. I don’t usually talk about players on an individual level when it comes to the team. We’re one team. We had a special connection and in the end we did it as a team.”